# US Divorce Rate by Year - Conflicting Data. Who's Right?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-divorce-rate-by-year-conflicting-data-whos-right/801508>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 13, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-divorce-rate-by-year-conflicting-data-whos-right/801508 "2017-11-13T02:22:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-divorce-rate-by-year-conflicting-data-whos-right/801508/21 "2017-11-24T16:42:46Z")

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Not data but since other people are sharing anecdotes and observed trends: A lot of people in unhappy marriages that might be considered “successful” solely because they don’t divorce just choose not to divorce for economic reasons, children, tradition, whatever. There are permanent separations in different locations, informal separations in the same house, years long estrangements with intermittent reconciliations, etc. Sometimes done in private, sometimes public or just known to certain family and friends, etc.

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**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-divorce-rate-by-year-conflicting-data-whos-right/801508/22 "2017-11-24T17:53:58Z")

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Are people who live together before marriage less likely to get divorced? That was one of the arguments when the practice first became widespread in the 70s, but it’s hard to reconcile that with the statistics.

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**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-divorce-rate-by-year-conflicting-data-whos-right/801508/23 "2017-11-25T02:48:11Z")

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> [@TheUser](#):
>
> Just to follow up for anyone following this thread, I’ve confirmed that **The Total Population Rate is misleading and inaccurate and experts reject it** :
> 
> The Total Population Rate (inaccurate) is called “The Crude Rate” while the per-1000-Married-Women (accurate) is called “The Refined Rate.”

Thanks for the info.

I find it interesting that the refined rate is per 1000 married women. Historically, when marriages were uniformly one man, one woman, the number of married women was pretty much an exact match for the number of married couples.

Have they changed the statistics now that same sex marriages are legal in all U.S. states.

Also, are there reliable statistics for divorce rates for same sex couples and mixed sex couples, including whether they are different? I would assume that because of the relatively recent shift to the legality of gay marriage, the statistics would be skewed, but I’m not sure how.

Come to think of it, are there differences between the rates for marriages between gay men and those between lesbian?

Thanks

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